The Female Member of the Weinviertel Spartans Men’s Team

In the beginning there was skepticism. A woman on a men’s team? In American football too? For Stephanie Kreimel from Gerasdorf, the answer was yes. The 28-year-old, who only started this sport about a year ago and previously played for the Vikings Ladies in Vienna, expressed her intention to switch to the Weinviertel Spartans men’s team in Mistelbach in autumn 2022. The club that she has been accompanying from off the field for a long time, because her partner Benjamin Ertl has been a player there for many years. She cited the family atmosphere at the Mistelbachers and the very manageable platform for women’s tackle football in Austria as the reasons for her move.

Many have asked themselves, can you really rearrange a woman like that? Does she then start crying (laughs)? Wide receiver Stephanie Kreimel gave the answer relatively quickly: Yes, you can. And no, she doesn’t.

Ertl was also the first whom Kreimel confronted with her thoughts. She remembers: “In the beginning he wasn’t that enthusiastic because he was really unsure what it’s like when you suddenly have a woman in a men’s team. Many have asked themselves, is it really possible to rearrange a woman like that? Does she then start to cry (laughs)?” The doctor, who practiced judo and tennis as a child but later definitely wanted to devote herself to a team sport, also received rather critical feedback from those around her: “They said take care, you need your fingers And that I should rather play handball. Handball is no less brutal. And it’s often a cliché that American football is just a fight.”

Nevertheless, it should surprise Kreimel at first that there is mixed football and that she only had the chance to join a men’s team: “I didn’t know that for a long time either. Because you have this certain physical discrepancy. But almost everything can be balanced somehow. You just have to find the position where you can somehow use the original inferiority.”

The right position for every physique

Kreimel falls into the “nimble and agile” category, she tries to play to her strengths as a wide receiver. The variety of positions was also a reason why she fell in love with American football: “Of course I won’t necessarily play as an O-Liner now because I simply lack the mass. But regardless of whether you are fast or slow, tall or short, fat or thin, there is a position for everyone in football where you can integrate well. As you can see, even as a woman in a men’s team.”

The newcomer has now not only convinced her friend of this, but also his colleagues. She has been in training with the Weinviertel since September, lets herself be rearranged and gets up again. “Of course it was unusual for both sides at the beginning, but it worked incredibly well,” says the woman. And one gentleman, Georg Gangl, also confirms: “She keeps telling the others not to spare her. As a coach, I think it’s great because I know it from the youth. It brings a super dynamic into the dressing room, because Steffi is a person who always gives gas, looks at the playbooks carefully, asks a lot of questions. That has a positive influence on others.”

“Just don’t be intimidated”

Incidentally, as a doctor, Kreimel has a double function. She is often the first point of contact in the club if her fingers are bent or crushed: “I often hear, ‘Steffi, will you take a look at that?’ But I like doing that.”

She doesn’t necessarily want to remain the only hen in the basket, she would be happy to have female reinforcements: “It’s always a certain enrichment when you have different identities in the team. No matter whether man or woman. The more diverse it is, the better. Just don’t let yourself be put off.”